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Matchday 2 of the 08/09 UEFA Champions League will be played out on 30 Sep / 1 Oct – we have the head-to-head records for the clubs involved, a look at the predictions for each group and the highlights going into this round of the Champions League group stages.

Did you know?

Celtic have failed to win in the last 17 games away from home in Europe (1 draw, 16 losses).

Ryan Giggs made his Champions League debut on 14 September 1994 and scored twice in his first CL appearance for Manchester United against IFK Göteborg (4-2).

Bayern Munich have not beaten Lyon in their previous 3 encounters, and lost their last home game to the French champions.

Head-to-heads in major European Cup competitions (exc. European Super Cup)

Predictions

Chelsea – Cluj may have surprised Roma on Matchday 1 but Chelsea are a different animal altogether.

Group A – Girondins Bordeaux v AS Roma

Bordeaux – this is going to be a tough game for Roma and I don’t think they have the mental strength to win away from home in Europe at this point.

Group B – Anorthosis Famagusta – Panathinaikos

Draw. Famagusta drew away from home and Panathinaikos lost at home. This one has a draw written over it unless Famagusta can grab a memorable win.

Group B – Internazionale – Werder Bremen

Inter – no way past them in this group, although the game itself should be a good one if Werder show up for it.

Group C – Sporting CP – FC Basel

Sporting – at home the Portuguese club will be too strong for the Swiss.

Group C – Shakhtar Donetsk – FC Barcelona

Draw. Don’t expect Barcelona’s swagger to help them through this fixture – a couple of scrappy goals from both sides should make this an even contest.

Group D – Liverpool – PSV

Liverpool. Problems and all, Torres, Gerrard and Keane should be too good for PSV.

Group D – Atlético Madrid – Olympique Marseille

Atletico Madrid. Atleti put 3 past PSV in the previous game, I’d expect this one to be another affair going their way.

Group E – AaB – Manchester United

Manchester United. Potential banana-skin (remember Copenhagen?) but United should get a goal in by half-time.

Group E – Villarreal CF – Celtic

Villareal. Celtic haven’t won away from home in Europe in ages (they have the second-longest streak of not winning away from home in Europe) and Villarreal were solid against United – at home, they should easily take care of the Bhoys.

Group F – Bayern München – Olympique Lyon

Bayern Munich. Lyon aren’t the same side of 3-4 years ago – they have Benzema but little else to suggest that they can do more than hold the opposition at bay.

Group F – Fiorentina – Steaua Bucuresti

Fiorentina – not easy for the Viola but a win here is a must for them if they want to progress out of the group stages.

Group G – Arsenal – FC Porto

Arsenal. This is the type of game you could bet your mortgage on Arsenal winning. The only question is by how many goals.

Group G – Fenerbahçe – Dynamo Kyiv

Fenerbahce – they got stuffed by Porto last time out but are good enough to beat Kyiv and revive their hopes for progressing to the next round.

Group H – BATE Borisov – Juventus

Juventus, but they’ll need to be sharp and take their chances – BATE will be looking for 3 points here and a chance to upset one of the giants of Europe.

Group H – Zenit St. Petersburg – Real Madrid

Draw. Zenit are quite capable of stuffing a team like Madrid and Madrid are, well, quite capable of messing things up. Madrid to save a point here, but they’ll need to score.

I think United is going to draw. LYon always does perform against German teams (Werder Bemen 7-3)and Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, will be going on a goal scoring spree. The Spanish clubs won’t be facing much of a fight and their opponents will go down easy by 2nd half. The Italians are the one facing unpredictble results.

Man, I think you’re way off on your Arsenal-Porto prediction; it’s foolhardy to dismiss Porto’s chances of getting a result. They’re a dangerous team that always does well in this tournament. Arsenal didn’t play well against Hull, clearly, and the ability to turn it on and off is rare. The letdown could continue today.

Hey Mike strong words about Porto. When are you going to eat them? 4-0 dude.”I think you’re way off on your Arsenal-Porto prediction; it’s foolhardy to dismiss Porto’s chances of getting a result. They’re a dangerous team that always does well in this tournament. Arsenal didn’t play well against Hull, clearly, and the ability to turn it on and off is rare. The letdown could continue today.” hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha